Q&A with live silent film scoring quartet MINIMA

I have been lucky enough to do an e-mail Q&A with Alex Hogg from the brilliant band MINIMA, who specialize in performing live scores for silent films. I saw MINIMA when they performed at the Duke of York's, doing a score for the German Expressionist classic 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' and was awestruck both by how much more effective such a film is with a good live score (becoming much more of an experience) and also by the fact that the group don't do silent film scores in the classic style (they don't use a piano or an organ at all, using drums and string instruments). Here is what Alex had to say to my blog:

When did you guys first hit upon the idea of scoring old, silent classics in this way?
Minima came out of an experimental project with the theatre collective Shunt. Being part of live theatre is very rewarding but ultimately restricts a band to the schedule of the theatre company. Moving to film was a logical step, especially given our love of film as well as music. One of the band members was working at the British Film Institute at the time and hit on the idea of silent film accompaniment. So in 2006 we played our first performances of The Seashell and the Clergyman, in the underground, labyrinthine corridors of the Shunt Vaults, underneath London Bridge station.

I was surprised there was no one at a piano. How did you decide to use such an unusual array of instruments for silent film scoring?
Our eclectic range of personal influences, gives us what we consider a unique take on silent film accompaniment. We can go from drum ‘n’ bass to tango, and from wall-of-sound to folk lament in the space of a few minutes. We are a four-piece outfit: drums, bass, guitar and cello and although we have no backing tracks and play with no pre-recorded sounds, the instruments are put through an array of effects to give us a very big palate of sounds and voices.

Have there ever been any silent movies that you wanted to do live scores for, which (for whatever reason) didn't work? Does German Expressionist cinema suit your style especially well?
We tend to be drawn to the darker side of cinema. We were commissioned to write a score to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by the Wellcome Trust in 2008 – they made the connection between the film’s angular stage sets and angst-ridden characters, and our music. But our own choices of film, such as Nosferatu, are edgy and dramatic - and Nosferatu is a great piece of cinema - as this is what inspires us. It also helps that this film is so well known; it is a real crowd-pleaser! It’s good to be asked to do something off your normal radar though – it’s surprising what you can come up with when you’re on unfamiliar ground. We have done a few improvised performances to British silent melodramas and we were very happy with what we came up with as a group when we were put on the spot. We are open to any genre of film and we would also love to work with contemporary filmmakers.

What makes a good silent movie score, in your view?
A good silent film score should not distract from what's happening on the screen - if the audience watch the band too much then it becomes about the band, and you lose the point, which is to watch the film. You have an element of power in performing to silent film: the music imposes a lot of the meaning upon the images, and it sets the tone and the mood for each scene. You have to strike a balance between having an understanding of what the filmmaker intended and having the confidence not to have to follow the images too slavishly. Films from the 1920s have a different pace, and for the uninitiated it can be hard work so a contemporary interpretation by musicians can really help. You can make people laugh, cry and jump out of there seats but we only do this in the name of accompanying the film and helping people to watch the film.

Which score are you proudest of?
Each of our scores has been approached in a different way. The Seashell and the Clergyman was our first and so we’re very fond of it and the attention to detail that we gave it. Nosferatu was written in much more collaborative way and features such a variety of different styles of music. It’s a real romp and matches the film, which is such a rollercoaster and full of now-iconic imagery. Dr. Caligari is in the Minima hot seat at the moment as we’ve just finished a two-month tour with it. We’re now turning our attention to brushing up our score for the Soviet science fiction silent film Aelita, Queen of Mars, which we’ll be playing at BFI Southbank in July.

You guys, obviously, perform live, but I was wondering if you've ever been commissioned to record a silent film score for a DVD release? I know silent movies often get re-scored for new releases.
This is something that's on the cards and we hope that before the end of the year that we might be in talks with DVD production companies to do just this. We have a couple of scores already recorded and ready to go!

Outside of your work, are there any old silent scores you are big fans of? I love Chaplin's 'Smile' from 'Modern Times', personally.
Our musical influences stem from all kinds of genres, as well as film soundtracks. Film composers that spring to mind are Bernard Herrmann, Carter Burwell and Danny Elfman rather than 1920s composers. We tend to write the music for its own sake and enjoy this creative process, rather than feel that we have to stick too closely to the images and the era they were made in.

MINIMA can often be seen touring the countries cinemas. Their current tour dates can be seen here.

'Lebanon' review and interview with Sam Maoz at OWF now!

Samuel Maoz's tough, award winning Israeli war film, 'Lebanon', has now been reviewed over at Obsessed With Film by yours truly. I was also lucky enough to interview Mr. Maoz back in late April and that too is now available to read on the site. There is also (and sorry if it's 'Lebanon' overkill over at OWF right now!) a podcast which covers the movie, with me and Jon also discussing 'Life During Wartime'.

Interested in 'Lebanon'? Here is the trailer:



'Lebanon' is out tomorrow (14th May) and is rated '15' by the BBFC.

Reversing my position, plus a new article, an interview and reviews at OWF

I have some new stuff up at Obsessed With Film as of today: a full interview with Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson (directors of the documentary 'Mugabe and the White African'), a review of the 'Caligula' Blu-ray release and a review of the documentary 'One Night in Turin', which is screening for one night only across the nation (11th May). Aside from this I also have a load of news stories up on the site and, of course, the podcast.

Speaking of which, Jon and I recorded no less than two new episodes the other night (Jon is going away for a week and we needed one in the bag for then). The first covers 'Life During Wartime' (which I still need to review for this blog since seeing it weeks back) and 'Lebanon', whilst the second was about 'Iron Man 2', 'The Avengers' and a nice Romanian film called 'The Happiest Girl in the World' (which I'll write a review for nearer the time of release).

Anyway, now to the bit about "reversing my position": I wrote this in my review of Chris Morris' excellent 'Four Lions':

"Where the film differs from the rest of the Morris oeuvre is that his work usually combines incisive satire of both form and content. The way things are said is always as rich and funny as what is being said. However, in ‘Four Lions’... this formal and generic parody is absent... stylistically there is none of the directorial wit and experimentation seen in Morris’ series ‘Jam’... there is a sizable portion of what makes Morris pioneering and unique that is clearly missing."

The more I have thought about that since I have begun to change my mind. I saw the film again last night and it confirmed that I was probably wrong about the lack of satire of the form of film itself. (Potential spoilers ahead) I think that actually Morris is playing with the structure of movies and the way in which they can manipulate audiences to sympathise with potentially nasty characters.

I a lot of films you follow a gangster, a bank robber or some other kind of violent criminal (or even violent anti-hero) and the film is constructed in a way which makes you identify with that protagonist. When the police almost catch the crook you get nervous. If the movie was about the police, however, you'd anxiously want them to best the crook.

In 'Four Lions' Morris sticks to a conventional structure where Omar (Riz Ahmed) faces a crisis of confidence just prior to the films third act. In typical movie style he is given a pep-talk by his wife and young son, who persuade him he should, in fact, destroy himself. It's a dark and disturbing scene and the more I think about it the more I think that Morris knows exactly what he is doing by combining that sort of scene with this sort of character. He is playing with convention and structure and highlighting, almost, the dangerous power of film to manipulate an audience. The home-life scenes with Omar are quite sweet and sometimes a little cheesy, but I now think this is part of the satire.

Of both form AND content.

Anyway, that's how I feel about it now.

On a side note, I saw Bogdanovich's 'The Last Picture Show' yesterday and it was amazing from start to finish. Here is the trailer... for no real reason.

'Four Lions' review and interview with Nigel Lindsay

I have reviewed Chris Morris' new film, 'Four Lions' on Obsessed with Film here, and also interviewed one of its stars, Nigel Lindsay, here.

'Four Lions' is rated '15' by the BBFC and is out everywhere now. Check it out!

Disney "Trade Tour 2010" and 'Lebanon' interview...

Another quick entry, just to say what I spent today doing. I went to Disney's 2010 trade presentation in London as part of a Picturehouse delegation that also included Splendor's Jon Barrenechea and Dukes duty manager Jonathan Hyde. There we were shown some trailers for up and coming Disney releases and told a lot of corporate stuff about what Disney hope from this year at the pictures (mostly commercial stuff - which was quite depressing for anyone who doesn't see film primarily as "product"). I'm going to write a report on this as well as a review for OWF on the full feature that we were shown: 'Prince of Persia', directed by Mike Newell who spoke to us about the film at the event.

As I'm writing all my thoughts of any real substance up for the website, I'll share more trivial stuff here on the blog. We were given lunch, which was a piece of fruit, an orange juice, a muffin and a meal from a selection (I had a pasta chicken thing), aswell as a goody bag which contained a copy of 'Toy Story' on Blu-ray, a 'Toy Story 2' DVD and some little PIXAR toys.

I then went off to interview the director of the award-winning Israeli film 'Lebanon', Samuel Maoz. He was a very nice chap from my ten minutes with him in a plush soho drawing room. I arrived pretty late, as I couldn't find the building (people in London always seem to give contradictory directions - probably maliciously) and when I did turn up I was relieved to find that the whole thing was running late and I hadn't missed my spot.

Anyway, now I'm back in Brighton and after this I'm going to have a lasagne and write up some news stories for OWF, before transcribing my interview from the audio recording.

This is possibly the most boring blog entry ever... so here is a trailer I was shown today, as pinched from a well known video-streaming site:

A Conversation with Gervais and Merchant...

As promised at the end of last weeek, here is a link to Obsessed With Film and my interview with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who talked to me to promote their new film 'Cemetery Junction'. My review will be up on the same site on Wednesday, so I'm told.

I won't publish the whole thing on here (I don't know that I'm allowed) but I'll put a taster here to encourage you to read the full article:

Robert Beames: Even though you obviously write these moments and you know Emily Watson is a really good actress so you’re not too surprised, but does it still surprise you at the end of the day when you’re watching dailies and you see your words…

Ricky Gervais: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

Stephen Merchant: Those people always bring something extra.

RG: The way she does that and people like that underplay it. At the time you don’t think anything of it, but when you look back at it on a screen they fill your heart. Honestly, they’ve got something else, they’ve got an alchemy. It’s indescribable and I don’t know how they do it. And that’s the difference between a great actor and a film star and you can be both. There about fifty people in the world who are both.

SM: Well Ralph Fiennes turned up and I think the first thing he did was that big…

RG: Speech. Remarkable.

SM: Wasn’t it? That big monologue he’s giving the guy and [Merchant rhythmically slaps his hands] he came in word perfect, bam, there in front of two hundred extras, nailed it. We were embarrassed; we didn’t have any direction to give him… “do you want to do it again?”


Go and read the full article now!!!

T'was 'Cemetery Junction' day in Soho!

I don't know how much I can really say much about today as I need to give the articles to the website that kindly commissioned them: Obsessed With Film and their generous editor Matt Holmes. But what I can say is that I saw 'Cemetery Junction', the first film by the Gervais/Merchant comedy writing team, at Sony's Soho office (in the world’s most comfortable theatre and on a brilliant screen!) You can read my review shortly (and on OWF). Afterwards, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Soho Hotel where I saw Zach Braff milling around the lobby (and I also passed that guy Lizo from 'Newsround' in the street on the way in). Once at the hotel, I attended a press junket on the second floor, where I was lucky enough to snag a 10 minute interview with Gervais and Merchant themselves (which will also go up on OWF when it's done)!

It was basically like that scene in 'Notting Hill' where Hugh Grant tries to get into a junket as an excuse to talk to Julia Roberts again (only without the possibility of romance, sadly). I really enjoyed the whole experience greatly. Happily, the duo were nice enough to sign my copy of the press notes and a copy of this month's Total Film (which they have guest edited), which I shall treasure.

Anyway, stay tuned at OWF to read my thoughts when they are uploaded. I'll remind you again on here when they are anyway, but got to OWF all the same.

'Cemetery Junction' is rated '15' by the BBFC. It is released on the 14th of April in cinemas everywhere!

Q&A with Uckfield Picture House owner Kevin Markwick

Kevin Markwick owns and runs the Uckfield Picture House in East Sussex (not related to the 'Picturehouse' chain). An impassioned cinephile, Kevin was interviewed by Francine Stock on BBC Radio 4's Film Programme in February and came across as a funny and interesting guy. I got in touch and he was nice enough to answer a few questions for this blog:

Has there ever been a single feature which has saved the cinema from going out of business during hard times?
There have been a few over the years that came in the nick of time. Whether they were solely responsible for saving the cinema may be an overstatement, but it might have been close without them. Mamma Mia I know saved a few smaller independents from disaster. Billy Elliot is one that springs to mind as being the cavalry.

Apart from Mama Mia and Avatar, both of which you mentioned on the radio, what have been the biggest success stories during your time managing the cinema?
Well, I’ve been here my whole life so I’ve pretty much seen everything huge since about 1968! Since my time totally in charge, the first Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Titanic etc stick out. The titles you would expect really. More bespoke to us if you like, Sense and Sensibility, Calendar Girls, Shakespeare in Love, Gosford Park.

Any notable disasters? Anything that you agreed to play for a few weeks and no one came at all?
There are always disasters. It’s the nature of the business that nothing is totally foreseeable. Out of the worst films of all time here, at least two of them star Adam Sandler so I now have a no Adam Sandler rule. He would have to be in a Merchant/Ivory production set in India during the Raj starring Judi Dench featuring Abba songs for me to change my mind.

I'm not familiar with Uckfield. Which cinemas are your nearest rivals and do you program your cinema to be distinct from them?
As the crow flies I think the nearest cinemas are East Grinstead and Burgess Hill. They don’t worry me, I just do my thing. I play more non mainstream product than them purely out of instinct. If they started doing more I still wouldn’t worry. I just try and make my cinema the best I can so that when people are looking where to go they choose us.

Besides your own, what is your favourite cinema, and why?
My fave cinema outside my own is the Arclight cinema in Hollywood. Although it’s a Multiplex they take great care over the picture and sound for every show. I have seen many films there and never once had a bad experience. Sound is always the right level and the picture is bright and in focus. Of course that is the least anyone should expect when going to the cinema but sadly too many multiplexes are letting the popcorn sellers run the box. They should teach them where the porthole is and what it’s for, i.e looking out of to see if the picture is correct.

Did your recent interview on Radio 4 have any impact on business that you noticed? Any new customers?
It got a very positive response and hopefully gave us some good publicity. Can’t say we have seen a massive spike in attendance but it can’t have done us any harm.

Are most of your customers regulars? What is the demographic?
We have a great number of regulars as well as new customers. We also lose a few now and then as you can’t please all the people all the time. We are having over 120,000 people through the door every year, quite remarkable for a little place like Uckfield. We draw from all over, I know people travel from Newhaven and Tunbridge Wells, which is nice. Our demographic is families and people over 25. We seem to miss the bit everyone wants, 18 – 25. They seem to think it’s better in the big towns. They are wrong of course, but what can I do? They come back eventually! This is why I don’t play Jason Statham movies.

You show quite a mix at your cinema ('A Single Man' and 'The Last Station' alongside 'Avatar' and 'Alice in Wonderland', for example). Do you try to make sure your three screens are all showing different sorts of movies? Or do you simply play the three biggest you can get hold of, regardless of what they are?
To explain in detail how the process works would take a while. Basically, biggest isn’t always best for us so the three most suitable for my audience would be a more appropriate description.


Finally, what has been your personal highlight at the cinema, both when you were younger and since you became the owner?
Personally one of the biggest thrills was the day I opened the third screen. It had taken many years and a lot of hard work to get it done and walking round the cinema that day with all three screens full felt pretty groovy. This was immediately followed by one of the worst sustained periods of business for about ten years so beware feeling smug, you’ll always fall flat on your face.

Thanks again to Kevin Markwick for that interview. A complete history of the cinema (which has been operating since 1920) can be read on its official website.

Q&A with Universal Pictures UK Sales Director, Andy Leyshon/3-free-DVD-giveaway!

Andy Leyshon is a major player in UK film distribution. Working for Universal Pictures as their UK Sales Director, he has overseen some very successful film releases over the last few years, including the runaway hit 'Mama Mia'. He is also a really nice guy. So nice in fact that he agreed to answer a few questions about his work for my blog:

You're the Sales Director for Universal UK. Can you explain a little bit about what it is you are responsible for?
Basically dating our films in cinemas. In consultation with other senior members of the team, I help plot out where the best release dates for our titles are; then ensure the films get booked into the best cinemas; negotiate with exhibitors what we get paid for them; and finally aim to secure each title its maximum playability. Sounds a little dryer than it actually is!

What career path did you take to get to where you are today?
I did a Degree in Cultural Studies, which then led to a Masters in Cinema Studies, which in turn had a work placement option. All of the previous work placements had been in exhibition, but I thought I'd try distribution and did a brief stint as a runner with a company called Electric Pictures. Then, Masters passed and various temp jobs under my belt a job for a full-time runner position came up at Momentum (who had taken over and re-branded Electric). After that I moved from Runner to Print Manager to Sales Assistant to Sales Manager to Sales Director over the course of 8-9 years. Then when Universal decided to go it alone in the UK in 2006 I got the gig as Sales Director and have been here happily ever since.

I'm told you made the decision to distribute 'Mama Mia' in the UK, which was obviously a huge success (until 'Avatar' it was the highest grossing movie in the UK). Which other films have you decided to distribute that have gone on to be runaway success stories?
I wish that decision was solely mine as I'd be singing it (in an Abba-stylee) from the rooftops! Despite initially feeling that Mamma should be an Autumn release (ala previous big female hits) we took a collective punt that it could be the ultimate feelgood Summer film, obviously repeat viewing astonished us and the rest is history. Much like Avatar and Titanic such runs are incredibly rare, but a joy when they do happen. Its very hard to single out specific others, but ones I'm proudest of would include Hot Fuzz, Inglourious Basterds, Lost In Translation, Amelie, The Bourne Ultimatum, Atonement, O Brother Where Art Thou, Eternal Sunshine, Downfall, A Serious Man and Kick-Ass currently.

With hindsight, have there been any films in your time at Universal that you would not distribute given a second chance?
No comment!

You live in Brighton. Is that a good place to work in the film industry? Do you work in London mostly? Or is your job possible at home (via the phone/internet)?
I love living in Brighton and have done so for my entire career in the film industry. I wish the commute was better, but am now very used to it after so many years. Its easy enough to travel between Brighton & London. I could feasibly do a lot of my work from Brighton (via phone/internet), but I'd lose the personal touch of being in contact with my team and exhibition partners, so London it is, though I do miss the sound of seagulls & waves hitting pebbles during the day.

'Nanny McPhee 2' is currently top of the UK Box-Office and 'Kick-Ass' is also getting some postive write-ups: what other films do Universal have coming up this year?
Nanny is a terrific success already and will hopefully go on to be the biggest family hit over Easter. Kick-Ass also looks a winner and I can't recall having seen a film play so enthusiastically, so with a fair wind it should become the most talked-about release in April. Other than that, its another eclectic year for us with releases including Robin Hood (Ridley Scott & Russell Crowe team-up again for the origins story); Get Him To The Greek (Russell Brand & Jonah Hill comedy); Scott Pilgrim V The World (Edgar Wright's latest masterpiece with Michael Cera); Greenberg (the new Noah Baumbach); Step-Up 3-D (oh yes its back and even better in 3-D); Despicable Me 3-D (the first of many films to come from a great new partnership with Chris Meledandri - the man behind Ice Age & Horton Hears A Who); and The American (new Anton Corbin starring George Clooney) amongst a bunch of others.

You were at the Empire for the Kick-Ass premiere and it's a lovely cinema. What is your favourite cinema in the UK?
The diplomatic answer from a distributor would be that I love all of the my children equally...however, the Dukes Brighton clearly has a very warm place in my heart. From the building to the staff to the great mix of programming to the fantastic cakes it is definitely my fave venue. Also, it is 1min from my door.

As a lifelong film fan, do you still have to pinch yourself when you get sent scripts or when you are talking to directors and the like?
Absolutely. Its always interesting to meet any talent on any project and to see their perspective on things. As for scripts, the train journey is ideal reading time for me, so I get through them pretty voraciously. Every day is different in this industry which is what makes the job worthwhile.

I don't know if you're allowed to tell me, but what has been the most odd/funny interaction you have had with a movie star or filmmaker
No comment as I have a mortgage to pay and had better try to keep my job for a while yet!

On the subject of Universal Pictures: readers have the chance to win a trio of brand-new, recent Universal Pictures DVDs: Ang Lee's 'Taking Woodstock' (trailer below) aswell as the Vince Vaughn/Jon Favreau comedy 'Couple's Retreat' and 'Vampire's Assistant' directed by Paul Weitz (whose brother Chris also directed a vampire film last year: 'Twilight: New Moon'). All you have to do is e-mail me a piece of Universal Pictures related trivia. The most interesting or suprising e-mail will win the DVDs. E-mail your factoid to me at: r.beames@hotmail.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you.